State Feed: Louisiana

Louisiana: New Orleans will vote on railroad issue

Trevor Ford — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:16:11 -0500

New Orleans voters will get a chance Saturday to weigh in on efforts to tighten oversight at the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad, a once-obscure agency that was thrust into the spotlight as a result of misconduct by its top administrator. A City Charter amendment on the ballot would shrink the railroad commission from 16 members serving 16-year terms to nine members with four-year terms, plus the mayor. It would also allow people who live outside New Orleans to serve.

Read the story from The Times-Picayune

Louisiana: Voters pass tax amendments

Trevor Ford — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:44:58 -0400

Voters agreed Saturday to renew a 4-cent sales tax on cigarettes and to dedicate an annual stream of tobacco settlement money to the state’s free college tuition program called TOPS. Lawmakers connected the two to get around a veto from Gov. Bobby Jindal, who opposed the tax renewal but pressed hard for the TOPS funding ballot initiative.

Read the story from The Town Talk

Louisiana: Co-Chair of Jindal Recall Committee Quits, Says Husband Used Her Name Without Permission

Staff — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 16:09:17 -0500

The person listed as vice-chair of a committee formed to recall Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal says her husband - the committee’s chair - put her name on the application without permission. Joyce DeCarlo Ceasar says she wants nothing to do with the recall effort initiated by her husband Wednesday.

When asked, state officials indicated that the petitions had already been distributed listing the chair and vice chair, despite Mrs. Ceasar’s objections.

Recall Petition Filed in Louisiana Against Governor

Staff — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 15:11:59 -0500

It seems there is the potential for a high profile recall campaign in Louisiana against Governor Bobby Jindal:

Interesting Developments Down in Louisiana

Staff — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:03:41 -0500

It looks as though the citizens of Louisiana are going to try and use a recall petition on Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu. The right to recall an elected official is something Citizens in Charge Foundation supports. There aren’t usually as many high profile stories in the world of recall, but every now and then a prominent official is subjected to recall, this will be interesting to watch.

Voters to decide on pay raises

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:17:12 -0400

Voters should have a chance next year to put into the constitution what they told legislators last year: “Don’t vote yourselves a pay raise during your current term in office.” The House on Monday unanimously approved Senate Bill 67 by state Sen. Joe McPherson, D-Woodworth, which requires that any raise granted to state officials and the Public Service Commission won’t go into effect during that four-year term. Raises would not go into effect until a new set of legislators or statewide officials are elected.

Louisiana state Rep. says local districts should decide on term limits

Fri, 15 May 2009 11:30:31 -0400

Rep. Greg Cromer, R-Slidell, said the state should not be meddling with school board affairs. Instead, he said, voters should determine locally whether they want to limit terms on their school board.

Read the story from NOLA.com

Colorado Transparency is Common Sense

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:18:58 -0500

Paul Jacob, President of Citizens in Charge, an organization working to preserve and expand initiative and referendum rights, addressed Colorado transparency in his Common Sense column today. I have copied it, with permission, below.

Opaque Transparency

Jefferson Resident Drops Jindal Recall Campaign

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:18:24 -0400

The 32-year-old Jefferson Parish resident who filed a recall petition last week against Gov. Bobby Jindal said today he will drop the effort now that the governor has vetoed the legislative pay raise bill.

Ryan Fournier, 32, is a Republican who voted for Jindal but was dismayed by the governor’s refusal, until Monday, to stop lawmakers from more than doubling their pay.

“I think we ought to throw in the towel as far as a recall,” Fournier said this morning.